First and foremost its a quality MMO that does not have a subscription, its not Guild Wars 1, and its different in the sense its not that "WoWclone" that the ignorant and uninformed claim it to be.

I never touched GW nor did I have any interest in it because it didn't look appealing to me and I was already playing WoW at the time and enjoying it a lot.

For me and several of my friends who have quit WoW we're just looking for a fun game that we can all play with together and GW2 seems to be the answer. Honestly after playing in several events I was not disappointed and the game truly deserves the hype unlike a few others that I've bought into because I didn't do any research.

The announcement of Guild Wars 2 back in '06 actually pushed me away from the Franchise entirely. Getting rid of my instanced world, getting rid of a low level cap so that we can "grind longer in a persistent world and get stronger all the way up to 80"?

You know. If there would be one thing I could a bit moan about in relation to GW2 is the fact that they are removing all those instances. I mean, having EVERYTHING instanced perhaps was bad but on the other hand it would be cool to have some more instanced content in GW2. It is easier to get immersed in the world when there is no some guy named "Analtorpedo" (a genuine specimen I met during a 2nd beta weekend) strafe jumping around you. But I know I may be in a minority in this case becouse people generally prefer an open world. But in the end, becouse Arena.net proven to me once that they can make a game which I like, I have faith that they can do this again. That comes back to my original ramblings. I am hyped about GW2 becouse of GW1. Which may seem natural. But many people never touched GW1 and now they are waiting for GW2 like for a messiah. A bit confusing

When I first learned about Guild Wars 2, I was not impressed, because I knew Guild Wars (1) wasn't that good for my liking.
Or, better to say, it wasn't good enough to stand up to wow, but I came to the conclusion after playing it (a few months back) that the lore is awesome.
Then I saw a couple videos, including manifesto. (when the game was announced)

The ideas behind the game were what made me attracted to it, mainly these features:
-Side-kick system, otherwise obsolete content becomes actual content.
-Dynamic Events, changed the boredom that other mmorpgs(especially wow) made leveling be.
-No Holy Trinity. You can be anyone, and not wait 20m-1h for a tank/healer to play a group event.
-Level 80 gear stats do not go past certain threshold. No ubergeared nolifers 2shotting you in pvp.
-Above feature and the implementation of dodge mechanic promotes skill play and group coordination.
-The Graphics, not only the game is new and the graphics are better, but the theme of the environment and equipment is more to my liking.
-PvP from early level, on equal footing with PvP pros in terms of stats.
-Able to enjoy the massive and awesome lore Guild Wars (1) provides.
-Able to make my own story. MMORPGs usually overlook the RPG side of the game, and focus heavily on the MMO side.
-Crafting system. Gathering professions do not take a profession slot. This is pure gold for me.
-Able to be in many guilds at same time. Always hated I couldnt be in my casual friends guild without leaving my raiding guild (in wow)
-Last but not least, the abilities themselves. Combat is awesome, fluid, and all professions are versatile to the point of melee ranger and ranged warrior.

Overall, the great variety, depth, quality of production are things one cannot easily overlook when checking out a new game. That and the Buy To Play system, instead of Pay to Play, make the game accessible on top of it all.
Guild Wars 2 stands up to the high standards WoW has set for me, and most importantly from my small BETA experience, I can say it even increases them by a lot.

At the time GW1 was out the community of MMOs was only the 1/20 that it is today and then was mostly players that just started their MMO experience with wow. They were excited and really happy and no one ever was in a search for another MMO...that atmosphere lasted for some years. After that the community heavily grew, people started burn out with wow and at the same time wow started to change direction and target audience.

The last 2 years people was starving for something new and they were trying everything to find something new and shiny. That's why Aion, Rift, Conan, Swtor became more popular, at least the first months, than GW1 and lotro I must say, which also is a very quality game that released in a bad time also. For reasons that doesn't matter here to explain, these games failed to keep the players. I still play Aion and swtor and occasionally Lotro.

And now that MoP is coming and considered by many a huge turn in wow style (I am not say is bad, don't built on this) and swtor and Aion have "failed" we have a new and very innovative MMO that is so much different than anything else. As Fencer said

Right style of game @ the right time and money

. I just explained why it is the correct time and game style :P in my opinion.

Last edited by papajohn4; 2012-08-19 at 07:59 AM.

The trick of selling a FFA-PvP MMO is creating the illusion among gankers that they are respectable fighters while protecting them from respectable fights, as their less skilled half would be massacred and quit instead of “HTFU” as they claim.

But many people never touched GW1 and now they are waiting for GW2 like for a messiah. A bit confusing

Personaly i dont really care about lore-graphics in any game
I hate PvE pre-script Bosses fights
I am trying to find an game with somewhat pvp balance + an unique character

Maria(hypotheticaly person) hate GW2 PvP cause of the limited attacks(1-27) or cause the camera interact with the enviroment (get a refund , you know who) , but they like the Dynamic events and puzzling jumping

As an outsider like u , coming here and see both cases (me and maria) assume that we <<waiting for GW2 like for a messiah>> or <<GW2 gona kill a game>> which is wrong .

Ofc there are some exeptions, where ppl bashing an other game , but the opposite factions are doing the same . We cant cure the stupidity of the world .
For example see MoP trailer getting bashed by GW2 fan , but in the same time see GW2 video getting bashed by WoW fans

And i still cant understand why ppl can read threads and get hyped , while they cant investigate what the game can offer .
Thats again an other example stupidity ....

GW2 : Plzbegentle - Ruins of Surmia EU - Sylvari EngineerWoW: Vergin - Deathwing EU - Elf Resto Druid (27/05/05 - 02/04/12 Perma-Banned- Unhappy whinning PvP customer - whos begged from 4.1 to get rid of the RNG of Regrowth ... )It seems ppl have the energy to whine for a game , for not beeing exactly like their <<main>> game , while it dont have a SUB , and they dont have the courage to whine at their Game Master for slacking and producing few PvE content ...

And i still cant understand why ppl can read threads and get hyped , while they cant investigate what the game can offer .
Thats again an other example stupidity ....

Because this is the internet where insignificant disagreements seethe with more hatred than a holy war.

OT: People just wanted to see something new or at least an attempt at trying something new. Every MMO in the past 5 years has tried to imitate instead of innovate; personally after the first 3 BWEs I still couldn't shake the feeling playing my Elementalist that I was playing WoW except I could move while channeling. With more time though I eventually accepted that similarity was inevitable but at least it makes more of an attempt to be different than many others in years past.

One could even get an impression that it is regarded by some as a savior of the MMO genre. I keep asking myself how did this happen. I played GW1 since its release in 2005 and I loved it. But the fact remains, that I know very few people who actually ever even tried that game.

The numbers I'm seeing listed give the game sales in the seven-million+ area. If you really think Guild Wars 2 built its hype without GW1, a game that sold that many units, then.. well.. I guess it's possible but it seems silly to discount.

Word of mouth for me. I hated GW1 and never heard of GW2 until my GM in WoW asked me "Which anticipated game are you most excited for? Star Wars or Guild Wars 2?" for an interview question for getting in the guild. I chose GW2 and he showered me with praise and yeah. I had to start reading up about it after that, haha. xD

Word of mouth for me. I hated GW1 and never heard of GW2 until my GM in WoW asked me "Which anticipated game are you most excited for? Star Wars or Guild Wars 2?" for an interview question for getting in the guild. I chose GW2 and he showered me with praise and yeah. I had to start reading up about it after that, haha. xD

I've got to say that's the most bizarre question for a guild application in WoW :P

I've got to say that's the most bizarre question for a guild application in WoW :P

xD Well, I'm sure I was already through that whole process. We just had a chat in whispers about me coming aboard. He invited me on to vent to meet everyone and, with the rest of the guild listening, started with "Though we're still going to invite you into the guild... or maybe not, depending on your answer..." then popped that question on me. It was kind of intimidating, but after getting to know him (and eventually meet him in Orlando for a week) I knew he wouldn't have barred me for choosing Star Wars either way.

But yeah. That completely threw me off when he asked it. Never been asked a personal preference about something not WoW-related for a guild app!

For me personally it is the fact that you buy the game and never have to pay anything, It means I can pick the game up like any other single player game.. I can level/mess around and if I only like it for a few weeks like Diablo 3 then I wont be upset But also if it turns out to be a great game I don't have to sub and can continue playing WoW and GW2..

My only concern is how the community behave on servers.. If it just becomes full of douches like WoW then i'm just not going to play it.

By what was seen, players build hype. Its not hype based on a flashy CGI trailer, its hands-on play, word of mouth, and tons of factual information (both written and frapsed)

And what it is, appeals to people. No more looking for a tank for 45min, no more endless geargrind, no more Gear v Gear instead of PvP, no monthly fee, much more action-based combat, large scale PvP with WvW.

Most ideas in Gw2 are not new, some of them are even very old. But these ideas have been integrated from the very start in their own design, instead of WoW clone + gimmick.

I played Guild Wars one. I still remember the reveal, the first trailers, the gameplay trailer with the charr and the shatterer. The manifesto, The Races of Tyria, everything, slowly adding to the whole "WOWDAMN" that was building up, excitement naturally snowballed.

Also, it's uniquely pleasuring when a game delivers exactly what the developers said they would.

I just wish that PvE mattered more to these guys. I don't care for PvP *at all* so this isn't the game for me, but they clearly have good designers and excellent management.

why pvp matters more to the developers? You have 8 dungeons scalable with 3 different versions, so 8x3=24 different dungeons to do at max level. Add to this all dynamic events that will still take place in all over the world. What pvp gets more than pve?how many "arena" maps do they have? more than 24?

The trick of selling a FFA-PvP MMO is creating the illusion among gankers that they are respectable fighters while protecting them from respectable fights, as their less skilled half would be massacred and quit instead of “HTFU” as they claim.

It didn't build it up without GW 1. The people who started all the word of mouth were , for the most part, GW 1 players. They brought in more and more people over time and the effect snowballed. People who were truly curious about GW 2 decided to try out GW 1 to get a glimpse at where it was coming from. Some went with gameplay and others just watched videos but it gave a better basis for expectations then just forum posts alone.